


Without Saying Goodbye

by sambethe



Category: Emerald City (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-07 20:10:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10368474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sambethe/pseuds/sambethe
Summary: Canon divergence scene of what might have happened if Lucas wasn't Glinda's husband and he was with Dorothy when she returned to the farmhouse after escaping Glinda's palace.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For tumblr user @piratesbooty63fan, per her prompt request. This is probably a lot sadder than you hoped. Sorry?

“You were quiet on the ride.”

Dorothy sat on the bench beneath the window, idly petting Toto who was curled next to her, head perched on her lap. She shrugged at his words, but otherwise didn’t turn from staring out into the distance beyond the window.

Lucas bit back the frustrated sigh he wanted to give and instead turned his attention to the wrecked room that surrounded them, working to clear the floor of debris in order to make room to right the table.

“You couldn’t force her to leave,” he said after a while, “she wouldn’t have allowed it. The other girls wouldn’t have allowed it.”

He started at the hollow thud of Dorothy’s boot kicking at the wood front of the window seat.

“She’s just a little girl. She shouldn’t have to be a pawn in a war.” She kicked her heel at the panel again. “There shouldn’t have to be a war.”

“It’s not yours to decide. She’s where she belongs.”

She huffed and Lucas turned to the upturned chairs, righting them and pushing them off to the corner of the room. When he cleared enough space, he glanced back to Dorothy, finding her still on the bench but staring at him rather than out the window.

“Help me with this table.” He nudged his chin at where the table sat on its side.

“What?”

“We may be here a day or two, might as well make it so it’s livable.”

She narrowed her eyes at him but stood, hesitating a moment before she stepped forward. She walked towards the far end of the table, keeping herself out of his reach as she did. He stood at the opposite end and gripped the table’s edge. Once she mirrored him, he slowly counted down from three.

Once the table was righted and she stepped away, Lucas stepped into her path as she made her way back to the window. He caught her wrist as she started to side step him and tugged her to him, wrapping his arms around her as she fell against him. She stiffened in his hold and he bit back another sigh, missing the easy nature that existed between them before they stepped foot within Glinda’s palace.

_Yet another thing taken_ , he thought as he nosed at the side of her head, taking in the scent of her hair. After a few moments, he whispered her name against her temple.

 “You shouldn’t have stopped me. I could have convinced her, or at least gotten her outside and shown her –”

He soothed his hand down her arm and gave a small smile, mostly for himself, when she appeared to press into his touch. “Leith’s where she belongs.”

Dorothy pulled back but not away, glaring up at him.

“You can’t mean that. None of those girls belong there, to be used like that. To be cast aside when pushed too far.”

“Do you think your Wizard is any better? Do you know what he’s done to this land, to these people, in the name of his Science?”

“Do you?” she bit out, yanking her arm from where he had gripped her and stalked away.

Lucas cringed and stepped back. His memories were still difficult to parse, to sort those that were truly his from those imposed by Glinda’s magic.

“We should eat,” he offered to the back of her head, watching her until he saw the slight nod of her head as she returned to staring out the window. “I’ll go see what I can catch.”

It was dark by the time he returned, a brace of rabbits in hand. He had taken more time than was strictly necessary. He had walked the long way along the edge of the farm’s fields on his return, trying to tamp down his anger, still unsure who it was most directed at –Glinda, Dorothy, _himself_.

Dorothy had started a fire while he was gone, and she and Toto were curled together on a pile of pillows she had gathered to the side of the hearth. He stood in the doorway and watched them, wanting desperately to crouch down and join them. Wanting to have Dorothy’s thigh press against his, her warmth seeping through the fabric of their trousers to his skin. To have her tell him more tales of Kansas, to be able to now share some of his own in exchange. To be reassured that they were in this together. Whatever _this_ was.

“Are you going to come inside?” she asked, her hand steadily petting Toto as her eyes remained focused on the flames.

He nodded and clomped his boots against the door’s threshold, shaking loose some of the caked-on mud before toeing them off and pushing them into the corner. Padding towards the kitchen area, he went about dressing the rabbits, working quietly as Dorothy hummed a tune he didn’t recognize.

Leaving the game to roast on the fire, Lucas stripped off his leather coat, dropping it and his sword to the bench of the window seat before settling down on it himself.

Dorothy reached out a hand but he didn’t move. “Come here,” she said after a moment, shuffling to make room for him within her nest of pillows. “I don’t want to fight,” she continued once he dropped to his knees next to her, his hands braced on his thighs. She reached out again and slipped her hand around one of his own, lacing her with his. He squeezed back, offering her a small smile before shifting to move closer to where she sat.

“How do we go forward?”

She shook her head and offered him a sad, half smile. “I don’t know.”

He reached out, running his fingers beneath her jaw, his thumb swiping at her chin. He smiled back as she tilted her head towards his hand, moving so that his hand ended up tangled in the hair at the base of her skull.

“How about we eat and then get some sleep? Maybe it will clear our heads,” she said after a few moments.

He nodded and let out a deep breath when she sank into him, her head resting on his shoulder. He snaked his arm around her waist, his hand settling at her hip while hers crept around his stomach before winding in the fabric of his shirt. Not wanting to break the spell of the moment, he began to tell her a story of how he learned to hunt small game. How he would tag along after his cousins, trying to remain unseen, until eventually they would call him out. How they started to complain when he began to outpace them, despite them having showed him how to wield a knife.

She laughed when he told her of how they once threw him into one of the small rivers, and he smiled at the sound of it. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head as his fingers began to play with the edge of the thin undershirt she wore.

Once they finished dinner and the few dishes they found unshattered were washed, Lucas sat down once again next to her. He wound his arm around her, pulling her to him so that she settled between his legs, her head resting back against his chest. He slipped his fingers beneath the hem of her shirt, drawing his fingers along the soft skin he found, but not wanting to press his advantage for more. Not with her warm against him, the weight of her hand wrapped around to the back of his thigh a welcome comfort. It was more than he knew he deserved, especially with all that he said – all that he had done – while they were within Glinda’s walls.

They sat in silence as they watched the firelight die, the only sounds the pop of the occasional ember and their soft breathing.

“We should get some sleep,” Dorothy whispered, brushing her hand over his on her stomach.

Lucas nodded, shifting back and letting her go. He didn’t follow as she stood, and she turned and raised her brow to him in question. “I meant for you to come too,” she said, and held out her hand.

When he still hesitated, she sighed and bent down, taking his hand and tugging on his arm to encourage him to stand. He complied, handing a few of the pillows to her once he was upright. “We may want those,” he said. “Let me tend to the fire and then I’ll join you.”

Dorothy didn’t answer, but took the pillows he offered and made her way to the ladder leading to the lofted bedroom.

He took his time tending to the fire, banking it in hopes it would last them the night. He also hoped his delay would mean she was asleep by the time he followed her to the loft, wanting to delay until morning the argument he knew would need to be continued. But as he climbed the ladder and the room came into view, he found Dorothy awake and waiting for him.

She was stripped down to just her shirt and underwear. He eyed the long line of her bare legs, the shadows cast by the candle next to the bed flickering across her skin.  

“Dorothy,” he whispered and took a step back.

She shook her head and leaned forward, reaching out her hand as she did downstairs. “Please, don’t go.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, stopping himself from taking another step back.

She reached down, tugging at the ends of her shirt, pulling it up and over her head. Once she dropped it to the floor, she looked up at him. He swallowed hard enough to feel his throat bobbing as she firmly held his gaze.

“There will be time tomorrow to argue,” she said, reaching back to open the clasp of her bra. “Can we just have this tonight?”

*

She could hear Lucas’ soft snores from where she sat on the stop step of the ladder. She knew she needed to go, that she would need as much of a head start as she could get if she wanted to reach Emerald City without him catching up to her. But instead of moving, she watched the candle light that remained play across his chest. The sputtering light caught on the red and blond tones of his chest hair, highlighting them, causing them to glow before falling into shadow again.

His words from their first stay in this house echoed in her head.

_There’s only one person I fight for, since the moment we met. And you for me. Remember?_

She wished she could still believe those words, could trust they were on one another’s side.

She sighed and grabbed her flannel, slipping her arms into it before crouching up enough to turn and creep down the ladder. Reaching the lower floor, she grabbed her bag and jacket and tip-toed to the door, grabbing hold of the knob and turning it slowly. She held her breath as she pulled it open, hoping the hinges wouldn’t squeak and give her away.

She glanced back, eyeing the ladder one last time, and whispered, “I wish you could come too,” before slipping through the door and pulling it shut behind her.


End file.
